USA Basketball Observations

[zerophase]

After I finished watching the US vs Canada game I noticed a few things about international play.

The floor is definitely less spread and the players seem to be so clumped together that they have no where to go. I remember noticing this year summer in the FIBA Championships, but it wasn't as bad.

The rims are different- this leads to different bounces of the ball.

The ball is different too. I wonder if they're using the composite leather the NBA tried for half a season, then gave up on. It seemed to slip out of player's hands, who I know can ball handle.

The 3 point line is pathetic. Redd looks better than Bird out there.

Lastly, I must say, Hello De-Wayne-Wade. He's back. Watch out for Miami next year.

I was aware of the rules but I wasn't sure how they would affect our guys. Remember, this is a different team than last year.

Any personal thoughts guys?

[Shaqzilla]

What was the score of that game

[Chief]

D-Wade must of been faking that injury to insure a high draft pick. Also, he does not have a good bald head. He looked weird.

http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=827679

[zerophase]

What was the score of that game

120-65.

D-Wade had some nice flops like always too haha

[Amonkey]

Even though that was a real butt whooping, u gotta remember that wasnt a full Canada squad (that includes Dalembert).  Basically, I dont think theres that much to learn when ur playing against a weak team like that except just to get into the international basketball mode.  I am pretty sure their competition will be a lot better than what Canada has shown.

[bostonsportsfan]

according to nba.com the next opponent for team usa is Turkey which means Erdan I know he probably wont play this year and will stay in turkey but It will be interesting to see what he does July 31st at 8:00 am i cant wait to watch Who knows maybe he is another Michael Redd Gilbert Arenas Carlos Boozer or Manu. I like our chances with dannys draft track reccord Hey we need a backup center right? We cant see any of our boys play in summer league I know im living in dream world im grasping at straws but this July 31 is all i have. Hopefully erdan domminates but usa wins. It will make me feal better about our backup center Yeah its a false sense of security but hey lets hope for the best

[Scribbles]

Things I noticed that stood out.  First half Canda killed them on the offensive glass.  The lack of bigs looked pretty obvious out there.  I can't really say other than that this game showed me anything.  I'll have a better idea of how good they'll do if they beat Russia or Lith.  by a large amount than a lack luster Canada squad that really had nothing to play for other than country pride tonight. 

[houlana]

the US team actually looked really good. i was actually more impressed with the second unit of Paul, Williams, and Redd.
there was lack of depth for the big guys because Howard did not look too good( Injury),  not impressed with boozer, but Bosh looked the most effective.
as for the turkey match up, im excited to see the kid we drafted, but i dont really have high expectations going in cuz his carreer stats are not very impressive, but he is very young to be playing for a pro team for 4 yrs at such a young age.

here are his stats and history on wikipedia
2003–04
Erden played with Darü??afaka S.K. in the Turkish Basketball League, appeared in one game in which he recorded one point and two rebounds. He spent the majority of the season playing with the Darussafaka junior team.
[edit]2004–05
With Partizan Beograd in the Adriatic League, Erden averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. He scored in double figures twice, tallying a high of 17 points against KK Hemofarm. In the Euroleague, he contributed 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 12.5 minutes a contest. His highest scoring game of 10 points occurred against Efes Pilsen. In 2004-05, he also appeared in seven YUBA Liga games, averaging 1.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 4.4 minutes a contest.
[edit]2005–06
In the Turkish Basketball League, Erden averaged 6.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 18.4 minutes a contest. He had a high of 14 points at Fenerbahçe Ülker and scored in double figures seven times. He also contributed 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.1 minutes a contest in nine Euroleague games.
[edit]2006–07
Erden played 16.1 minutes a game, averaged 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in Turkish League play, registering a high of 10 points against Galatasaray Café Crown. In the Euroleague, Semih added 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 13.8 minutes per match.
[edit]2007–08
Erden averaged 7.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 19.5 minutes a game in Turkish League play, scoring in double figures six times with a high of 15 points against CASA TED Kolejliler. During the season though, he missed a number of games due to a knee injury. . In the Euroleague, he added 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19.3 minutes a contest, scored in double figures three times and posting high of 15 points against Panathinaikos BC.
[edit]NBA

Erden was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 60th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.[1] Erden was still under a one-year contract with Fenerbahçe Ülker[4] and was not expected to join the roster in 2008–09. He was seen by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge as their first-round pick in 2009.[5]

[Mean Gerald Green]

D-Wade must of been faking that injury to insure a high draft pick. Also, he does not have a good bald head. He looked weird.

http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=827679

Agreed, he needs to rock a fro or bring back the flat top.

[zerophase]

Even though that was a real butt whooping, u gotta remember that wasnt a full Canada squad (that includes Dalembert).  Basically, I dont think theres that much to learn when ur playing against a weak team like that except just to get into the international basketball mode.  I am pretty sure their competition will be a lot better than what Canada has shown.

they kicked dalembert off the team.

and the first half was ugly, just plain ugly. it was disoriented and lackluster. towards the end though, 3rd quarter, stuff heated up. they showed why they were allstars. deron williams had an amazing move to the basket, followed by chris paul. i wish i could see these guys play more often.

[makaveli]

What your coaching staff needs to realize is that you can't have preparations for any serious tournament such as World Championship or Olympic games in freaking Las Vegas. If you take a look at any serious team or franchise regardless of type of sports, they have them in small towns away from all the media attention, they even don't permit girlfriends or their wifes to see them more than twice a week.
You guys have cameras everywhere! In locker rooms, on practices, you have pree-practice, post-practice interviews, you put microphones on their jerseys etc. You can't expect them to be fully focused on practice. Sure they can beat team like Canada by 50-60 points, but the rest of the world is catching up pretty fast. Russia, Greece, Croatia, Germany, Spain all have good teams that will/could be a good/strong match-up with USA.

[Norcalceltic]

Things I noticed that stood out.  First half Canda killed them on the offensive glass.  The lack of bigs looked pretty obvious out there.  I can't really say other than that this game showed me anything.  I'll have a better idea of how good they'll do if they beat Russia or Lith.  by a large amount than a lack luster Canada squad that really had nothing to play for other than country pride tonight. 

I have to agree with the lack of size and rebounding. I don't understand why Coach K doesn't play 2 bigs at the same time. Why does he keep wanting to play small ball? Greece killed us in the post in 2006. They also gave up too many wide open looks for 3's. I'm interested to see Lebron at the Power Forward spot. There were also a lot of sloppy passes for turnovers.

[hardlyyardley]

need to defend the 3 better

[zerophase]

what troubled me was that rick mentioned team usa had "trouble" scrimmaging with the young invitees (Durant + Co.; Rondo and Perkins were invited but didn't attend).